Teenager stabbed to death over 'petty' Facebook jibe

A teenager was stabbed to death after a "petty" row triggered on Facebook, it was claimed today.

Salum Kombo, 18, bled to death yards from his home last night after he spent the day with his family singing carols and discussing Christmas presents.

Friends of Mr Kombo, from Bow, said he was threatened after posting a comment on another boy's Facebook page the day before. The jibe is believed to have related to the alleged attacker not being invited to a party.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said today: "A 16-year-old youth has been arrested on suspicion of murder."

A girl, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "Salum was killed just because he posted a stupid comment on another lad's wall on Facebook. The boy had initially written something on his wall to which Salum responded. It just escalated from there."

Mr Kombo, who came to Britain from Tanzania seven years ago, is believed to have been stabbed in a basketball court where he had agreed to meet a friend and two or three other youths.

The teenager, who was studying art at Tower Hamlets College and hoped to become an artist, tried to stagger home, where he lived with his aunt, after being knifed several times.

Gary Byrne, who lives nearby, told how he had cradled the victim as "the life drained out of him" on the pavement on Devons Road near the junction with Purdy Road.

Mr Byrne, 46, who owns a minicab firm, said: "I went out to the shops and when I came back minutes later I saw the kid lying on the floor with a crowd of young boys standing around him. I went over and another guy was trying to stem the flow of blood. The wound was in his neck or chest. I was speaking to the ambulance crew while holding his head and trying to talk to him, trying to keep him awake.

"His eyes were flickering and I could see the life draining from the poor kid. There was so much blood. I've never seen anything like it in my life.

"When the ambulance pulled up he was still alive and they worked on him for about 20 minutes but he died on the pavement."

He said the boy's aunt rushed to the scene and was screaming and crying, begging paramedics to save him.

A resident, who would only give her name as Norma, said: "The family were sitting there singing Christmas carols at home, then he went out to get something to eat and this has happened.

"It's heartbreaking that this has happened so close to Christmas and it has affected the whole neighbourhood."

Friends today set up a Facebook tribute page to Mr Kombo, who is the 14th teenage murder victim in London so far this year.